Mikel Arteta gives latest injury news on Arsenal squad ahead of Tottenham Hotspur clash
Mikel Arteta has provided the latest injury news on the Arsenal squad ahead of the match against Tottenham Hotspur later today. His side will travel to face off against their bitter rivals on the road as both teams are engaged in a tense battle for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Tottenham will be boosted by the fact that the Gunners have some injury concerns to deal with coming into this game. Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Official Arsenal website), Arteta has revealed that Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney are still out of contention to feature in the North London derby.
As for Bukayo Saka and Ben White, they remain doubts for this game, although they could play a part after undergoing assessment in the build-up to the fixture. Arteta did say they are feeling much better, so that could perhaps be a hint at their involvement in the match later today.
“Thomas (Partey) is still out, Kieran (Tierney) is still out and with Ben, he is still a doubt, we have to assess him and see how he is feeling, which is much better. With Bukayo it’s the same. It’s very difficult to rate with injuries, it’s just how they feel today, that’s the last day that we can assess them and try to get the feeling, basically.”
Spurs must win today!
Ideally, we would love to beat our bitter rivals at their full strength to impose our dominance on them. However, it is time for practicality right now and we could use every help we can get against the Gunners.
Hopefully, Saka and Tierney would remain on the sidelines as they are two key players in Arteta’s current set-up. Losing both of them for a crucial league fixture would undoubtedly be a massive blow for them, with Champions League qualification on the line.
However, Arteta did convey that the Arsenal duo is feeling better in the build-up to this game, so we should prepare for their involvements just in case. While they are firmly in contention to finish in the top four places as of now, Antonio Conte’s side has a great chance to ramp up the pressure at a crucial point in the season.
A win today would see Spurs close the gap to just one point, having played the same number of games. While a loss still would not put our future into our own hands, taking the momentum from Arteta’s side could cause them to falter in the remaining few matches.
They still have to face off against Newcastle United and Everton, and both games could be tricky under the current circumstances. Newcastle are a resurgent side, while the Toffees have beaten the likes of Leicester City and Chelsea recently, which does instil us with hope.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
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Hence, we must do our best to get all three points at the end of the night to give us a final shot at making it into next season’s CL. Now we have to play a waiting game to see whether the players would step up and rise to the occasion to put us into contention.
Arsenal had Alexandre Lacazette and Nicholas Pepe on the bench against Leeds United so it’s not like they are short of options up front.
